elections

Hopefully those of you living in New York City were able to participate in Primary Day; if you haven’t, it’s not too late. Registered voters have until 9:00 this evening. Of course, we all care about our city and want to take part in electing our public officials. Perhaps this morning you were overwhelmed by the number of candidates to research and decide between. According to the New York City Campaign Finance Board, as of September 10, 2009 there were a total of 374 candidates running for election!

Still, New Yorkers have been given materials to be informed: The New York City Campaign Finance Board (CFB) reported that more than 2.7 million households will receive the official New York City Voter Guide for the 2009 Primary elections in various languages. Perhaps you received one by mail recently. If you haven’t looked it over yet, it is very helpful.

For the increasing number of voters seeking voting information online, the CFB posts an interactive voter guide on its website. Voters can enter their address to view a guide tailored to their home district, or simply browse candidate profiles by name or office. Links allow visitors to e-mail campaigns and view PDFs of the guide in Spanish, Chinese, and Korean as well as other sites of interest.

The Milstein Division is presently collecting campaign ads and brochures from all parties, candidates, and offices, especially for the upcoming November 3rd Election. This will be added to our ephemera collection, useful for present day and future researchers. Most of what we have so far for the 2009 elections is, understandably, material from Democrats running in the primaries.

As the November 3rd Election moves near, anyone who wishes to contribute material, please send to:

Milstein Division of United States History, Local History & Genealogy
Stephen A. Schwarzman Bldg. – Rm 121
New York Public Library
Fifth Avenue and 42nd Street
New York, NY 10018

This post was contributed by Jim Falconi of the Milstein Division.

New York State Political Elections, ca. 1850

Those who know me well may think I'm stuck on confections in general, but with the presidential election less than two weeks away, I cannot think of a more appropriate juncture to discuss the inauguration of election cake into American culture. And what would such an examination be without sharing a few traditional recipes found in NYPL's collection!

The birthplace of election cake can be traced back to the gubernatorial elections held in Hartford, Connecticut as early as 1660 when English colonies, Connecticut and Rhode Island, were granted the right to elect their own governors—long before the Revolutionary War began in 1775. Some primary evidence of the cake's existence is found at the Connecticut Historical Society, which holds the Colonial Records of Connecticut. These papers show that in May 1771, a man named Ezekial Williams submitted a bill to the Connecticut General Assembly to be reimbursed for the cost of making election cake for the colonial capital’s public festivities (also known as “Election Day Drinkings”). Historians have come to believe that election cake was adapted from yeast breads of that period popular in England.  read more »